The launchpad console is the starting point for installing IBM® WebSphere® Application Server Network Deployment.
Before you begin
- The launchpad is a web application. Before using the launchpad,
you must have a supported web browser. The launchpad supports the
following browsers:
- Mozilla Firefox Version 3.5
or later
- Internet Explorer Version 6.0 Service Pack
2 or later
- Install a supported web browser if one is not installed.
- You must install the Bash shell
package to use the launchpad application. Although the Bash shell
must be installed, the Bash shell does not need to be used to run
the launchpad.sh command. If you attempt to run
the launchpad application from a DVD on the HP-UX, Linux®, or Solaris operating systems without
the Bash shell installed, the launchpad fails with an error message
indicating that the Bash interpreter is not found. If you attempt
to run the launchpad from any image on AIX®,
the launchpad fails with an error message indicating that the current
browser is not supported. The Bash package for the AIX operating system is included in the IBM AIX Toolbox.
Examples of what the launchpad can do:
- The launchpad does support installing Installation Manager Version
1.4.3.1 in admin or non-admin (user) mode.
- The launchpad does support updating Installation Manager to Version
1.4.3.1 from an earlier version in admin or non-admin (user) mode.
Examples of what the launchpad cannot do:
- The launchpad does not support installing in group mode.
- The launchpad does not support installing or updating with a custom
application data location.
Restriction: You cannot run the launchpad
remotely to install a product. Only local use of the launchpad is
supported.
About this task
The launchpad identifies components on the product disk
or image that you can install (launch).
WebSphere Application Server is an integrated
platform that contains an application server, a set of web development
tools, a web server, and additional supporting software and documentation.
The launchpad is a single point of reference for installing the entire
application server environment. If you click a link that points to
a product repository on another disk or image, you are prompted to
insert that disk or browse to that image. For example, IBM HTTP Server, Web Server Plug-ins for IBM WebSphere Application Server, and Application
Client for IBM WebSphere Application Server are on the
supplements disk. If you click a link to launch those products, you
must insert the supplements disk in the disk drive or point the installer
to the product repositories to install the product from the launchpad.
Procedure
- Start the launchpad.
The launchpad program
is available in the root directory of the product disk. You can start
the launchpad manually using a fully qualified command instead of
changing directories to the disk and running the command locally from
the root directory:
- Mount the disk drive if necessary.
This procedure varies per platform. See Mounting disk drives on operating systems such as AIX and Linux.
- Open a shell window and issue a fully qualified command to start
the launchpad:
- ./launchpad.sh
- launchpad.bat
Tip: If you need to navigate using
the keyboard, use Mozilla Firefox as your web browser and start the
launchpad with the following command:
launchpad_a11y.exe
Avoid trouble: Some Windows operating systems such
as Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows 7 have implemented a more restrictive
security policy that denies access to trusted files by non-trusted
files or applications. When the launchpad application is run as a
non-trusted program, you will receive JavaScript "Access is denied" errors that
subsequently cause the application to hang. Because downloaded images
are automatically blocked, unblock the files so that the launchpad
can successfully access the files. Before you extract the image, right-click
the image file and select
Properties to open the Properties
panel and locate the security section and click the
Unblock button.
You can now extract the image and run the launchpad application.
gotcha
The launchpad opens in the language of the locale setting
of the machine.
- Use the launchpad to perform the following tasks.
- View the Welcome page, and access links to the WebSphere Application Server Information
Center and the IBM Education
Assistant.
- Launch Installation Manager installation, and access the IBM Installation Manager Information
Center.
- Download the latest version of IBM Packaging
Utility, and access the IBM Packaging
Utility Information Center.
- Launch Installation Manager to install WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment
- Launch Installation Manager to install DMZ Secure
Proxy Server for IBM WebSphere Application Server.
- Launch Installation Manager to install IBM HTTP Server
- Launch Installation Manager to install Web Server Plug-ins for IBM WebSphere Application Server.
- Launch Installation Manager to install the WebSphere Customization Toolbox.
- Launch Installation Manager to install Application Clients.
- Launch Installation Manager to install IBM WebSphere Edge Components: Load Balancer
for IPv4 and IPv6.
- Access the WebSphere Application
Server Information Center for information on obtaining and installing IBM WebSphere Edge Components: Load Balancer
for IPv4.
- Access the WebSphere Application
Server Information Center for information on obtaining and installing IBM WebSphere Edge Components: Caching Proxy.
- Access the latest version of IBM Support
Assistant.
- Launch the installation for IBM Tivoli® Composite Application
Manager for WebSphere Application
Server.
- Access the latest version of the Tivoli Federated
Identity Manager for WebSphere Application
Server Network Deployment.
- Launch Installation Manager to install IBM WebSphere Adapters
Version 7.5.
Results
This procedure results in using the launchpad to start the
installation and to access information through a browser.
Troubleshooting
If
you can start the launchpad but clicking a link does not resolve to
a page in the launchpad, you might have the wrong media in the disk
drive. Check the validity of the media.
Use the following procedure
to correct any error that is preventing the launchpad from displaying.
Then, try to start the launchpad again:
- If the product disk is no longer accessible, insert the disk.
- Mount the drive as necessary
on platforms such as AIX or Linux.
- Enable the JavaScript function
in your browser.
Mozilla Firefox: Click :
- Select Enable Java.
- Select Enable JavaScript.
- Click Advanced and allow scripts to ...
(Select all boxes.)
Internet Explorer: Click .
- Restart the launchpad by issuing the following command:
- ./launchpad.sh
- launchpad.bat
If the launchpad links still do not work
after following this procedure, launch the programs directly.